Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Red Sox Game 4: Different Game, Same Result

The Red Sox are 0-4 for the first time since 1996 when they started the game 0-5 and finished the season 85-77, third place in the AL East and 7 game behind the New York Yankees. This game however, gave me some hope. Unlike the previous three series when the pitching was to blame, the pitching was actually decent enough to get the win. Josh Beckett went 5 inings, allowing 3 runs while the bullpen finished the game off without allowing a run. Red Sox pitching also combined for 12 strikeouts. A game like this is exactly what this pitching staff needed. However, it was a let down that the offense could not give Beckett any run support.

The Red Sox only got 1 run on 4 hits against a pitcher who is in his first full season in the majors. And Dustin Pedroia got 2 of the 4 hits. Ellsbury, Crawford, Gonzalez, Youkilis, Ortiz, Lowrie, Scutaro, and Varitek all went without a hit. The Sox need to find a way to combine great offense with great pitching. In the four losses, the first two had great offense, the third game had poor pitching and hitting, and the fourth game saw great pitching. Now we will see if the team can carry the great pitching and find their stroke on offense again so that the team can start racking up the wins.

I do not believe that the Red Sox will have as poor a season as they did in 1996, even if they don't win their next game and match the start to that season at 0-5. I think they will still have over 90 wins, and possibly around 95, but something needs to change. This team is not combining great games as I mentioned earlier from both pitching and hitting. My biggest fear is that the other starters on the team will see the poor performances in Texas and then the great performance out of Beckett who still could not get a win. I am afraid it will cause uncertainty among the starters.

So, what we really need now is for Dice-K Matsuzaka to go out in game 2 of this series and pitch as well as Beckett did if not better and get him some run support. I truly believe that all this team needs is 1 win. Once they get that first win, it will be the spark that lights the rocket that will be this team. And we need a win going into this weekend. If we face the Yankees with an 0-6 record, we will end that series 0-9. They have been too good early in this season. Boston needs to be able to look at their record and see a number larger than 0 in the win column before they host New York or they will not be able to win, even at home. I still have hope for this team. I will never give up on this team, but I understand other members of the Nation faltering after this start. But look for this team to take off soon. We know the offense can do well as we saw at the start of the season, and we know the pitching can do well as we just saw in this game. Once it all comes together, this team will be unstoppable! Until next time my faithful followers, stay Out of Bounds!